Despite moving all their worldly positions into the clinic, they lacked some supplies. Thanks to Jayde’s winning wagers, they had more than enough money.

  Cameron woke before any of the others to put on coats of the sun cream. After allowing one coat to dry, he slowly applied another coat, then another.

  “I’ve got too much to do today to turn into stone,” he said.

  “What wrong with stone?” asked Marl.

  “Nothing at all, if you can keep moving, Marl,” said Cameron.

  The group split up. Cameron and Marl went to buy supplies. Marie and Jayde explored the city.

  Jayde and Marie made their way to the Merchants’ District, where buildings had large signs that flashed their wares. Merchants also had their goods in carts and wheeled them down the street, shouting about special deals on sale just for today. People sold nuts, fruit, fish, and bread. Delicious aromas emanated from shopfronts and buildings. People performed on street corners with amazing acts of agility. Some sang songs; others played instruments, while the rest juggled and told stories. Wizards performed illusions for small crowds with a tip jar left out to reward their efforts.

  Jayde grinned continuously at the sights. She had been waiting to explore the city for days, but, for reasons she did not understand, she hadn’t ventured on her own. Jayde wanted to ask Marie a hundred questions after overhearing her and Cameron’s conversation. But Jayde knew her eavesdropping might be a strike against her. She tried a bit of subtlety.

  “Hey, Marie, what is an assassin?” she asked.

  Marie stopped walking and looked at Jayde. She was startled to see that Marie’s expression was not one of anger but more of a sly smile. She continued walking while she answered. “The Assassins’ Order is one of the larger Order Halls in most cities. Usually assassins are trained to gather information, but people can train at their halls for a wide variety of skills. Some of the best trained soldiers had their start in the Assassins’ Order. I actually trained at one of the Assassins’ Order before becoming a war sage,” said Marie.

  They came to a large white stone building with an intimidating iron door at the front. The building towered over all the others on the street. The letters EO marked the outside of the building.

  “Jayde, before we go in this building, I want to do something. It might make you feel a little light-headed, but it will help protect you.”

  “Sure. Will it hurt?”

  “No. It will make you feel a little funny, that’s all,” said Marie.

  “Whatever you say.”

  They walked inside. Marie put her hand on Jayde’s shoulder. As they walked through the door, an eerie silence surrounded them. Jayde felt calmer and more relaxed than she had just seconds ago. She also felt slightly light-headed.

  A young woman sat at a desk. A second iron door loomed behind her. The lady wore a lime-green dress and purple glasses much too large for her face. She looked up from her mass of disorganized paperwork.

  “What do you want?” she said.

  Jayde saw the woman’s mouth move, but somehow all the sound come directly out her nose.

  “Yes. We were wondering if you could—” Marie began.

  “—could provide more information about enchanting, yes. I could if you were worth the time,” finished the thin lady with a sneer. She worked on her paperwork, ignoring Jayde and Marie, creating an awkward silence.

  “Anyway, yes. Jayde here, I believe, has great—” Marie said.

  “—great potential for just about anything. Or so you think. But you really don’t know, do you?” said the lady. This time she looked at Jayde. Again she paused, as if daring them to speak again.

  “Right. Like I was saying, Jayde seems—”

  “—to be positively brimming with raw Talent, or so you are convinced. And you don’t think she even realizes this yet,” she said. The lady sighed much too loudly and dramatically. She slowly pulled her spotless glasses off her face and began furiously cleaning them. “Listen. We get potential enchantresses here all the time. Each one thinks he or she could make it to Elite Enchantress in less than three years, but time and time again we see nothing but novices with the Talent of a kumquat. This little waif probably doesn’t have enough Talent to walk across the street without holding your hand.”

  “Hey!” said Jayde. “Who do you think you—”

  “Not now, little urchin. The adults are talking. Doesn’t have much for manners either, huh? I can see that she was pretty much raised on the streets. Now isn’t that a star on her report card? Undisciplined, unkempt, and stupid—a triple threat,” said the lady.

  “Now listen here,” said Jayde, who could feel her anger pulsing, “you have no right to—”

  “To what, little girl? To insult an urchin with no Talent who is wasting my time? Don’t have any delusions of importance here. I can tell right now you won’t amount to much,” she said. While she spoke, she leaned over her desk and looked down at Jayde.

  Jayde wanted to slap her smug expression right off her face. She willed her body to do so, but it did not respond.

  “Oh? Can’t do anything? No surprise there, urchin. You obviously are too dumb to know my enchantment prevents you from resorting to your usual violent, immature ways. You barge in here with ridiculous requests. What do you do? You waste my time. Please …” said the lady.

  Jayde stared right into the eyes of the woman. As the nasally woman ranted, Marie narrowed her eyes and took her hand from Jayde’s shoulder. For several seconds nothing happened. Then her expression changed. The woman stopped her rant, as if someone had flipped a switch. “Oh, my, but what happened?” she said.

  “I was just cloaking the amount of Talent she has,” said Marie with a smile.

  “I can personally guarantee that that child will never become an enchantress if she does anything drastic,” sneered the woman, who now appeared less confident. She stood up and poked Jayde hard in the chest, as she did so. “Don’t even think of it!”

  “All we really want is the location of all the orders. Is that too much to ask? As the largest order, the Enchanters’ Order is supposed to provide guidance for all the other orders, correct?” asked Marie.

  The lady ruffled through a drawer, leafed through hundreds of pages, and threw a sheet of parchment at Marie.

  “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” said Marie.

  “Don’t strike that tone with me. You think you’re smart, but that little mongrel still has—”

  Jayde looked right at her and screamed “Stop it!” As she yelled, a sound like a thousand windows shattering cascaded through the room. Jayde suddenly felt much lighter and sensed the release of pressure she had not noticed.

  Marie faced the rude woman, pulled her elbows to her side, and clenched her fists tight. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The color in the thin lady’s face drained away, and she let out a tiny whimper. Marie opened her eyes wide and roundhouse kicked the desk. The desk exploded against the wall in a shower of splinters and papers. Seconds later three women in matching black dresses came out of the iron door leading deeper into the building.

  “What is going on here?” one snapped. Her voice pulsed with steel and anger.

  “Your receptionist insulted my friend here too many times. She has no respect and no eye for Talent. Not only that, she failed to recognize someone with a bit more strength than she thought,” said Marie, her tone matching that of the first woman.

  “Oh, my. My, my, my. Did you shatter the antiviolence enchantment?” asked one.

  “Nope. Jayde did. I just smashed the desk out of frustration to get that idiot’s attention. I’m sorry for breaking the desk, but she was hiding behind that enchantment with such an infuriating air of authority. It was all I could take,” said Marie.

  “Really?” said the second lady dressed in black. “Well, we thank you for teaching our novice a lesson,” she said. She then looked at the thin woman in the glasses.

  “Novice? But I passed all my novice exams months ago!”

  “If you passed them, you would have learned the ninth tenet of Enchanting better than that, hmm? ‘Always know strengths as well as weaknesses.’ The enchantment let you see her weaknesses, but you failed to even test her strengths. Novice, you’re lucky she only destroyed the desk. Most war sages I know would not have tolerated such disrespect.”

  “Sage? You’re a war sage?” asked the thin woman, now trembling. “But, but why didn’t you say so? Why didn’t you think about it? You knew I was reading your thoughts. I know you knew. Why didn’t you think about that?”

  “Because I didn’t want you to know. I wanted to see how you would treat someone who you thought of as your inferior. I found that you treat them quite badly. Not only that, I blocked Jayde’s true potential from you for the same reason. I wanted to show Jayde how she would be treated, if she were to become an enchantress. I think I’ve accomplished that.”

  The three women in black dresses glared at the freshly demoted novice. She wilted and slunk through the back door, disappearing from sight.

  “This girl is positively rippling with Talent,” said the third woman, speaking for the first time. “Please at least give her an honest chance at Enchanting.”

  “Uh, thanks?” said Jayde. “Could one of you possibly do me a favor?”

  “Certainly, child. It is the least we can do after slighting you so unfairly.”

  “Could one of you try to share, putting aside your feelings toward Enchanting, what you really think I would be best at?” Jayde asked.

  “Jayde, you’re asking more than you realize,” said Marie.

  “No, that is fair. This child has wisdom far beyond her years. Margaret, if you would be so kind,” said one.

  The stern-faced woman in black walked forward. She asked the rest of them to take a few steps back. She put both hands to Jayde’s face and closed her eyes. She instructed Jayde to do the same. A golden glow surrounded the elderly lady and Jayde.

  A rush of emotion mixed with dizziness consumed Jayde. She felt her body falling, yet also felt a surge of energy holding her in place. She felt shapes and designs and creatures unimagined pass in front of her with blurring rapidity. It lasted less than a minute and faded away like a dream.

  “Well?” asked Marie.

  “No doubt in my mind that she would make a gifted enchantress,” said Margaret. The other two women nodded in agreement. “But,” the woman added. She then looked right at Jayde.

  “Yes?” said Jayde.

  “But I think you would be a Conjurer of Excellence,” she finished.

  “What!” said the first lady.

  “You’re joking, Margaret. You have to be!” said the second.

  “Have you ever known me to joke? Ever?”

  “Those hacks will waste Talent of this level! Even in their upper echelon, there’s hardly a master among them! Oh, sure, Yow is incredible, but he’s really the only one,” said the first.

  “She asked for my opinion, and I gave it,” said Margaret simply. “The girl is a born conjurer. Her imagination is untamed, nearly explosive. Her mind creates unique answers from angles yet unthought. Not only that, her will dwarfs even my own.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  “Oh, but what an enchantress she would make!” said the first.

  “Indeed. But that is not our choice. It is hers,” said Margaret.

  Jayde looked at the stern-faced Margaret again. Then she impulsively gave the old woman a hug. The woman seemed taken aback but returned the hug.

  “Thank you,” said Jayde.

  “You’re welcome, child. Good luck. You have a rough road ahead of you, but I think you can do anything you put your mind to.”

  They left the Enchantresses’ Order, and Marie explained what had just happened to Jayde.

  “Your inquiry, Jayde, asking an enchantress to give her honest opinion of you, was sheer brilliance. You may not have known it, but one of the enchantments in there was that of truth. Normally the enchanters have the advantage of knowing that people who come in can only speak the truth. You turned that on them by forcing the enchantress in there to give her honest assessment of you. It was exceptionally clever, even if you didn’t quite plan it that way,” said Marie.

  “I just thought they might point me in the right direction.”

  “I thought we could go from order to order to see which one you like best. You have a recommendation for Conjuring, but we should visit some other orders to see how you feel about them.”

  The rest of the day was spent going to various Order Halls. The Necromancers’ Order scared Jayde, regardless of their raspy encouragement that she would be “horribly skilled in the dark conversation,” whatever that meant. The Wizards’ Order seemed stuffy and overly fixated on books. The Philosophers’ Order thought she was a bit flighty, and she thought they were nuts. Jayde liked the Witches’ Order, even with their cackling laughter.

  They also visited some of the minor Order Halls. They visited the Voodooism Hall, where a man in only a loincloth with a necklace of skulls greeted them. He threw some chicken bones on the floor and said the bones did not want her here. He then said the bones did want her to give him a silver piece for happiness. They left.

  They tried to get into the Order of Abjuration. Marie explained how helpful a good abjurationist could be in battle. They could create wards of impenetrability and strong barriers of protection. Unfortunately, when they arrived at the Order, for some reason they could not get through the door.

  They walked into the Seers’ Order only to find a person waiting for them at the front door. She smiled and explained that they should continue their tour of orders elsewhere. Marie found this quite amusing, but Jayde seemed a little put off. They then went to the Alchemists’ Order. To Jayde, it seemed like a boring version of the Witches’ Order. They had bubbling pots in neat rows sorted by shapes and sizes; yet, where the witches had energy and spontaneity, the alchemists seemed cold, sterile, and dull.

  Finally they made it to the Conjurers’ Order. A portly goateed man swept the front porch of the Order Hall. He greeted them as they came toward him. A delicious smell drifted through the air, like freshly baked bread and simmering vegetables.

  “Greetings, friends. I’m Yow,” said the fellow with a broad grin.

  “You Meow?” asked Jayde.

  “No. I am Yow, Yow Li. But I do love cats,” he said. Yow looked down at the ground and grabbed a handful of dirt. He winked at Jayde and made a strange gesture. Out of the dust came a small creature three inches long. It lacked shape at first, and then it shook itself and dust fell from its coat. It was a tiny cat, made of the brown-gray dirt. It blinked its eyes at her and gave the tiniest squeak of a meow.

  “Oh, you’re good, Yow,” said Marie. The old man smiled at Marie.

  Jayde reached down and pet the tiny kitten with one finger. The kitten rubbed its head against Jayde’s finger and purred. It was so tiny, the purr was just barely audible, but Jayde looked up at Marie with a smile that could melt granite.

  “Would you like to come in?” Yow asked.

  “Can I take her with me?” asked Jayde.

  “Of course,” said Yow. “Though try to keep her off the counters. I’m not sure if she’s potty trained yet.”

  Jayde put her hand down, and the dirt-kitten jumped into her outstretched palm. It pushed on her hand a few times with its front paws and then curled up in a tiny ball. Jayde cupped her other hand over the tiny kitten and walked into the Conjurers’ Order. Yow held the door for her as she walked in, followed by Marie.

  A flurry of activity greeted them as they entered. The order house was larger on the inside than on the outside. Flying creatures had room to fly since the ceiling rose to over three stories. A group of elderly conjurers—two humans, a creature with long catlike ears and whiskers, and four reptilian beings—sat in front of a fire, deep in discussion. Hallways expanded in different directions. Small creatures scurried around and then vanished into nothing. A herd of giant spiders ran along the walls and ceiling, carrying drinks. One would drop down from the ceiling to refill an empty mug from time to time. Occasional bursts of laughter could be heard throughout the enormous room. Explosions punctured the air as well. Something struck Jayde as unique; beyond the multitude of creatures of all shapes and sizes, something felt familiar. She could not see it, but she could definitely feel it. Jayde looked toward Marie.

  “I don’t know what it is, but it feels right. None of the other orders had this level of energy. I mean, I understand the allure of alchemy. They mix stuff together to make new stuff. That’s fine. And I think I get Enchanting. They make spells that stay in one place and affect a certain area. All the other orders seemed so focused on studying and diligence. What does a conjurer do?” Jayde asked.

  “What does anyone with Talent do?” answered Yow Li. “The orders offer channels to use Talent. Many people attempt to go to the order with the most power. Others go to orders where they think they can achieve fame or fortune. You could harness your Talent in any order. You are new to the world of magic, correct?”

  “Is it that obvious?” asked Jayde.

  He smiled. “Yes, it is. But that is a beautiful gift to the lucky order you chose. You come as a blank page, without preconceived notions of power, greed, or fame. Conjurers rarely have such desires. The fact that we accept anyone who wants to try Conjuring also might add to the chaos.”

  “Wait. You accept anyone to be a conjurer? Why? Doesn’t that mean that you get a bazillion people who call themselves conjurers, even if they’re awful?”

  “I would say just under a bazillion, but yes.”

  “Do you think that’s a good thing, Mr. Li? I mean, doesn’t that dilute the population with a giant group of pretend conjurers?”

  “Exactly!” said Yow.

  “But why? Everyone hates being looked down on,” said Jayde. Then she stared at the man and a thought came to her. “All right, I’m gonna try Cameron’s approach on this one and break it down from your angle.”

  “Please continue.”

  “I presume you’re a good conjurer. The clueless old guy sweeping out front seems a little cliché for me. You made a kitten out of nothing, so let’s pretend that you’re really talented. I don’t know anything about Conjuring, but I read people pretty well,” said Jayde.

  Yow Li’s face suddenly shifted to a serious expression. “Indeed you do.”

  “So why would you want everyone to … oh, it can’t be that simple,” Jayde said.

  “What conclusion did you reach?” asked Mr. Li.

  “You like people to think of all conjurers as people with little Talent. You want the general public to think of conjurers as a joke. That way, when someone with a true gift for it comes along, they will be filed along with all the riffraff. A gifted conjurer is like a dragon among chickens,” said Jayde.

  Marie just looked at Mr. Li and smiled. He shook his head.

  “You know, Jayde, for someone who has not even lived as a conjurer, you think like a conjurer,” said Mr. Li.

  “I don’t know why everyone keeps saying that. Even Margaret the enchantress told me that I’d be a ‘Conjurer of Excellence,’ but I still don’t even know what one is!” shouted Jayde.

  The room became silent.

  “What did you say, child?” asked a skeleton, who had been sitting at the bar. Despite being made of nothing more than connective tissue and bones, its voice seemed surprisingly upbeat and happy.

  The sudden silence surprised even Marie. Jayde looked over at the skeleton. “I said, Margaret the enchantress thought I’d be good,” repeated Jayde quietly.

  “No. Say it exactly how she said it,” said the head of a dragon mounted on the wall.

  Jayde had assumed it was merely decoration; apparently it was not. Jayde looked helplessly at Marie and Yow, but neither would answer for her. Hundreds of stares locked on the young girl.

  “She said I would make a Conjurer of Excellence, whatever that means. But I still don’t even …” Jayde trailed off.

  All the heads seemed focused on Jayde and Yow. He smiled, stood, and motioned for Jayde to walk down one of the hallways. Slowly the buzz of the great room returned to its normal level of chaos.

  “What the heck was that all about?” cried Jayde.

  “Well, Margaret is more than just another enchantress. She is possibly the most powerful enchantress in the world. She rarely gives compliments,” said Mr. Li.

  “So some crazy old bird gave me some big compliment. I still don’t know what everyone is talking about,” said Jayde.

  Yow just grinned. “Patience. Many of those in the great hall would give a fortune in gold or years of their lives to have Margaret give them just a nod of approval, much less marking them as excellent. I have known Margaret for a long time now. I have only heard her use the word excellent two other times and never about a conjurer. Buffoon, idiot, imbecile, incompetent, delusional, horrendous, and other such words flow like a river from her mouth. Ah, here we are,” he said in front of a door that looked exactly the same as all the rest.

  They entered a small room with a large sandbox in the middle.

  “This is training sand. This room has an enchantment on it that helps bring out your latent Talent. The sand also has been altered by a few of my alchemist friends to be more pliable. This allows you to take large steps forward, well beyond your normal abilities.”

  “What abilities?” snapped Jayde.

  “You want to see what Conjuring is all about. I think the best way to show you is to have you show yourself,” said Mr. Li.

  “Um, okay,” said Jayde.

  “Do you still have the kitten in your hands?” he asked.

  “She’s sleeping,” said Jayde.

  “Is she? That’s nice. Why don’t you put her in the sand? Cats love sand,” he said.

  Jayde put the tiny kitten in the sand. It looked up at her for a second and then pounced at something only it could see.

  “Look closely at the kitten. Really look at it. Look at the kitten and concentrate,” he paused. “Now close your eyes, Jayde.” She did.

  “Picture the kitten in your mind. See it right in front of you. See it walking around in the sand before you. Don’t think about it, but actually try to see it in your mind,” he said.

  Jayde continued to concentrate.

  “See it. See it. Now think about that little kitten.”

  “I see it,” she said.

  “Yes, I believe you do. Keep your eyes closed. Now what color is it?” he asked.

  “Dust gray. I don’t need to open my eyes to know that.”

  “Indeed. But, in here, it doesn’t have to be,” he said.

  “It doesn’t?”

  “Not here.”

  “Hmm,” said Jayde. The small kitten rapidly changed colors. It first morphed from a kitten made of dirt into an actual kitten covered in gray fur. The fur then changed color again. It became brown, then Siamese, then orange. Jayde smiled. The kitten changed to lavender. Then its ears turned pink, and its paws turned brilliant yellow.

  The kitten shifted through a rainbow of colors, shades, stripes, and splotches. It changed from short haired to long haired, then into one with long whiskers and a short tail. The tail grew longer and longer, then again shortened. Faster and faster the tiny kitten changed shape, color, and form. The kitten seemed unfazed, continuing to happily pounce around in the sand.

  The tiny cat mewed. Jayde opened her eyes. The cat currently had an orange head with a diagonal blue stripe, as well as a long glowing white tail and chocolate-colored paws. The kitten mewed happily again. It spun in rapid circles, trying to catch its brilliant white tail. It then stopped and looked right at Jayde again and licked its nose.

  “Can anyone do this in here?” asked Jayde.

  “No,” said Yow. “All I did was imply the kitten’s fur color might not be permanent. I never said anything about you changing the cat by just thinking about it, much less making it into an artist’s palette of random colors. I didn’t speak of fur or length of tail. And yet you have realized a few possibilities by yourself. Your imagination as a conjurer is your best and most valuable asset. Imagination is more important than facts. Imagination is change. Imagination is power. You must see things from a different point of view, find solutions in ways that have not yet been considered or attempted. That, Jayde, is the way of a conjurer.”

  “I guess, if you say so,” said Jayde. “But it’s almost not fair.”

  “What’s not fair?” Yow asked.

  “Forcing the poor thing to look like what we want. Though, I wonder,” Jayde said and then slowly closed her eyes. The color in the kitten slowly drained away and the long hair shortened. It slowly changed into a short-haired gray tabby.

  Yow looked down at the kitten, currently rubbing against Jayde’s legs and purring.

  “Jayde, what did you just do?” Yow asked.

  “I … I’m not sure. I just thought that, if it was so easy to have it change colors, it would seem fairer if the kitten could change colors whenever it wanted. I mean, it’s her color, so she should be able to change it, right?” asked Jayde.

  Marie looked at Yow. “Did it work?”

  “Try it out,” he answered.

  Marie walked behind the cat, then quickly stomped her feet and yelled. The tiny kitten released a startled hiss. For a split second they all saw the kitten’s hair stick up on end, but then it vanished.

  “You killed it!” shouted Jayde.

  “Patience,” said Yow.

  Jayde felt a small wet sensation at her ankle. She looked down but saw nothing. She reached to touch where the sensation was and felt a small form. The kitten rubbed against her ankle, touching its cold nose against her leg. She picked up the invisible cat. It purred right away and slowly materialized into view. This time it had a light pinkish color to its fur, as it purred.

  “Jayde, I’d like you to keep her,” said Mr. Li.

  Jayde’s face beamed, and she looked over at Marie, who just nodded.

  “I love her!” she said.

  “I’m glad to hear that, for she is your responsibility. If, that is, you want to become a conjurer,” said Yow.

  “Yes, definitely! And I’ll take great care of her. I promise.”

  “Good to hear. But she requires Conjuring to flourish. The more you conjure, the stronger and healthier she will be.”

  “But I don’t even know how to do anything yet,” said Jayde.

  “Well, you know how to change her colors. That’s enough. You can try to vary her colors or make her fur longer or shorter—anything at all. You can’t hurt her by trying, so don’t worry about that. She can help you out on your trips too,” said Yow.

  “My trips?” asked Jayde.

  “Yes, indeed. You are now a novice conjurer. All start off the same. Making deliveries.”

  “Deliveries?”

  “Conjurers are on the bottom rung of the magical Talent ladder. Most regard conjurers as strange people with a few party tricks, though I suppose that does describe the majority of us quite well. Thus, we had to make some sacrifices to stay a flourishing order.”

  “What does that have to do with me?”

  “The order stays in business mostly through the restaurant upstairs. One of the reasons the restaurant does so well is that we offer free delivery. That’s where you come in,” he said.

  “Can she come with me?” Jayde asked, pointing to the kitten.

  “She must go with you on your deliveries. You see, since I made this familiar, I will always have a link with her. If you ever get in trouble or have any difficulties, just tell the cat, and she’ll let me know,” he said. In response, the small kitten mewed in agreement.

  “When do I begin?” asked Jayde.

  “Tomorrow.”

  Jayde looked up at Marie, Jayde’s bright green eyes beaming in hopeful expectation.

  “There are still orders that we have not checked out yet. Usually one decides on which to join over years, not after a whirlwind one-day tour bouncing from hall to hall. I don’t want you to do this just because someone told you to do it,” said Marie.

  “I’m sure. It feels right.”

  “I guess she’ll see you tomorrow then, Mr. Li,” said Marie.

  “Call me Yow,” said Yow Li.

  Jayde and Marie walked out of the Order Hall. Jayde beamed in the early dusk. Before they could get more than ten paces from the hall, they heard a faint mewing. They both looked down to see the kitten trying to keep up with their long strides. The kitten appeared gray again, now that they were outside of the training room. Jayde grinned and picked her up.

  “I guess she wants to come with me even when I’m not on deliveries,” said Jayde.

  The kitten attacked the frayed end of Jayde’s sleeve but missed its pounce and landed in the sleeve instead. It popped its head out, as if surprised how it got there.

  “You know, a cat should have a name, even if it is made of only dust and magic,” said Marie.

  They walked a short distance, while Jayde contemplated names.

  “How about Jasmine? I was thinking of Grace, but I think that she might be a little clumsy for that name,” said Jayde.

  The kitten looked up at her and lightly bit her thumb.

  “Ow! You little stinker!” said Jayde. The kitten gave a cute little meow and purred again. “That’s it. I’ll call her Fang.”